Buying a boat

When you are buying a boat, you want to feel comfortable about every stage of the boat sales process and in complete control. The Boatshed broker will advise and hand hold you through every stage. Before you travel to view a boat, check out all pictures and video of every boat for sale on Boatshed.com. Our brokers take all their own pictures and video, so you can see the up to date information and full inventory of each boat.

Before you travel: view up to 80 photos, video and a detailed spec for each boat.

Every boat has been visited and photographed by us personally, so we can talk in detail about the boat you are interested in.

We also can offer advice on any negotiation, will always accompany you on a viewing when you want to physically see the boat, plus as boaters ourselves, add help and offer practical advice on boat ownership.

If you make an offer we always communicate all offers to the owner and negotiate if required.

Once your offer is accepted, a 10% deposit secures the boat for further inspection by a qualified surveyor.

This deposit is kept in a secure client account and the boat is now placed “under offer”, preventing further bids until you decided to complete the purchase.

Once the Agreement of Sale is signed by buyer and seller, then buyer can proceed with checks.

Boatshed recommend you have a survey and when the deposit clears, the survey can be arranged.

You choose a surveyor and cover any costs associated with your survey. If the survey goes well and you proceed to purchase, the balance of monies are due via the Client Account prior to ownership transfer.

Should the survey not go well and you choose to withdraw your offer for the boat, then your deposit is refunded.

We handle all negotiation between parties, paper work, title & brokerage issues.

The first step is to choose a boat that suits your needs. At Boatshed.com we have a vast selection of all types of boats so we hope we’ll have just what you are looking for. You can search our boats for sale in a wide variety of ways. If you not sure exactly what you want then why not contact one of our qualified Boatshed Brokers to discuss it with them.

We have a detailed description and inventory of each boat listed with Boatshed.com which you can view on-line. We also have up to 80 photos of each boat but we do ask you to register your details with us before you can view these as they inevitably show personal items belonging to the boat’s current owner. The registration process is quick and simple and you only have to do it once no matter how many boats you view. Register with Boatshed.

Once you decide that you’d like more information or to arrange a viewing on a boat you need to contact the local Boatshed broker who is handling the sale. Their details can be found on the link in the broker’s comment box. Drop them an email or give them a call they’ll only be too happy to chat about the boat with you.

All our viewing's are accompanied by a qualified Boatshed.com broker so hopefully they will be able to answer all your questions about the boat or find this information out for you. Our brokers are a mine of useful information, as they work locally in the area where the boat is, they will be able to put you in touch with others within the marine industry if you need quotes for things like transport, insurance or work needed on the boat to get her exactly how you’d like her.
a/. If you are travelling a distance we would recommend that you make an Offer, Place a Deposit and an Agreement for Sale contract signed by both parties before committing to expensive travel logistics
b/. See points 5 & 6 re viewing a boat and any specific conditions of the potential purchase.

When you’ve made up your mind that the boat is what you are looking for the next step is to make an offer. This is normally made subject to survey but can also be subject to sea trials, engine test and equipment checks. You don’t need to view the boat before making an offer. It makes sense to make sure you can get her for the right price before making a long journey to view. With popular and much sought after boats we would recommend that you do make an offer as someone else might beat you to it.

If you don’t like what you see when you get there you can always withdraw from the sale and we will refund your deposit but in this rarely happens as you’ll have a very good idea of the boat from the detailed description, inventory and photos. We often sell boats to buyers who have trusted our description and photos and the marine surveyor’s opinion, the first time they see the boat is when they come to collect her or she arrives on transport arranged by the Boatshed.com broker.

Contact the broker to make your offer, we are duty bound to inform owners of all offers made so we’ll let you know as soon as we possibly can what the owner’s reaction to your offer was. Quite often there is a period of negotiating but this is always done via our broker to ensure everyone gets the best deal.

After your offer has been accepted the Agreement for Sale contract needs to be signed by the Owner & Purchaser, and the Purchaser pays a 10% holding deposit. Once the Deposit is cleared in the Clients account the boat is Officially under offer and we can not show any more customers the boat. You have a set time period to perform your checks. This deposit is fully refundable if the sale does not proceed in accordance with our agreement for sale and is paid into a client account.

You now have 21 days to arrange the survey and checks before completing the sale. We recommend that you use a professional surveyor with the appropriate Professional Indemnity insurance. All costs for surveys and lift outs are down to you. Our brokers are not allowed to recommend surveyors but they will be able to provide you with a list of local surveyors if you don’t know any close to the boat.

Our broker will be informed of when the survey is taking place and will try to be there to meet the surveyor; this gives them a very good and early indication of any problems if they are found and how severe they are. This is vital as they will have to undertake any negotiations between buyer and seller if anything is highlighted in the survey.

The majority of our surveys are plain sailing and any problems the surveyor finds are often known to the broker who will have forewarned the purchaser already and ensured that the offer price included an offset for any work required. Our brokers will be able to provide details of local companies who can quote for any work needed following the survey to enable a fair price reduction to be agreed.

Obviously if the survey, or any other trials or checks reveal material problems then you can choose not to proceed and we will refund you deposit in full. However it’s far more usual for our brokers to enter into negotiations on your behalf with the owner to secure a price reduction.

Once the final price is agreed all that remains is for you to pay the balance and collect the keys and the paperwork. The broker will have sorted all the necessary formalities out to correctly transfer title and to arrange to appropriate registration and if needed import or export documentation. Because Boatshed.com is a well established worldwide organisation our brokers can rely on the support and advice of our experts and their colleagues across the world so that they can get even the most complicated transfer documentation completed. The boat is now yours but the Boatshed service doesn’t stop here.

You’ll need to arrange insurance, possibly transport for the boat, maybe there’s some work you want carried, you’ll need to arrange for somewhere to keep the boat and might even need a little tuition or directions to the local supermarket so you can stock her up before your maiden voyage. Our Boatshed.com brokers are there to help with all these things to ensure that buying a boat is as easy as it can be.